Author of

Macaron Tutorial

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

I wish I could tell you I am sitting right here enjoying one of these lemon lime cupcakes as I type my post but truth is I am trying to write in a room where English and French are mingling with hand gestures and strange sounds, and my brain is not sure this post is going to make sense by the time you read it. I tried isolation, taking one cupcake to the office room, sitting down at the computer with a cup of tea but I keep being interrupted because it seems that nobody understand my house, kitchen and pantry set-ups, hmmmm....really?....and I thought I was Ol' Deat Martha!! Anyways...back to the cupcakes.

Laurie from Quirkie Cupcake posted a Cupcake Hero Event focused on lime and as a new September Daring Bakers I wanted to give her full support, except that I am late....I can't lie...It's funny how I can think so much (three weeks) that it almost seems real, like I already made it, and then I wake up the morning of the deadline to realize that it was all in my head, a nice pretty dream, full of lemon and lime and soft meringue...

We have a saying in French that goes like this: "Il n'a pas invente la poudre" translating as "he surely did not event gunpowder", which is pretty much what I did when I made these the other day. They had been on my "must try" list for a long time and this month I finally had the opportunity to play around with them and my blow torch. I used a recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Cupcake Bakeshop. Cheryl's site is not only amazing to look at but I admire her adventurous spirit when it comes to pairing ingredients and flavors, creating recipes and styling them with the most relevant details. I fell in love with her meringue cupcakes ever since they jumped at me through the screen. I followed one of her recipes for the cupcakes adapting it to fit Laurie's challenge, except I can't remember which one as I scribbled it in my blue notepad one day I was in a hurry. I used lime oil as an added boost of flavor. The lime curd inside is my usual foolproof recipe that I make time and time again and probably make you guys sick ad tired of it....but if it ain't broken why fix it? As for the meringue, well, if you have a blow torch it does make the job easier. I have not tried the broiler in my oven for these so far, but if you do, please let me know the outcome.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively to the butter/eggs mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add the lime juice and zest. Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Lemon Curd:

grated zest of 21/2 cup strained lemon juice1/2 cup sugar2 eggs

Combine the zest, sugar, juice in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light.Beat some of the lemon mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes. Remove the curd from the heat, let cool completely.

Lime Meringue Frosting:

1 cup egg whites2 cups sugar1 tsp. lime juice

Combine egg whites and sugar into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and set over a water bath. Whisk by hand for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved or preferably until the mixture reaches 110F . Transfer bowl to electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 10 minutes. Add lime juice Beat on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form, about 2 to 5 minutes more.

To fill the cupcakes: with a sharp knife cut a small hole in the cupcake, not cutting all the through. Fill the cavity with the lemon curd, and put the top back on. Spread the meringue and brown with a blow torch.

I just checked my wallet and found I have $71.00 and change --every penny of which I would hand over to you immediately if you would bring me one of those cupcakes RIGHT NOW. They are adorable--and I know they taste terrific.

Those look killer good but then I'm a push over for most any curd!"Il n'a pas invente la poudre" oh how I can relate to that one. And get tired of lime curd, very unlikely! I still want to play with my torch on meringue.

oooh...that lemon curd looks so yummy inside those cupcakes. I think I know now why my hubby retreated to his computer when his mom was here. He got tired of the said gestures and strange sounds between me and his mom as we tried to communicate - he he....

My first comment as I've discovered your blog recently, but I really love it, it always looks so yummy and not (too) difficult to bake at home when you know how to cook a bit. Merci pour tous ces postes si intéressants et aguichants (si si je vous promets!!)

These look great! I have a question. For the Lemon Curd, it says:"-grated zest of 2-strained lemon juice"I assume the grated zest is from 2 lemons, but what about the lemon juice? Is this also from the same two lemons or is it a specific amount? Thanks.

the meringue is so pretty! i bet those were a treat. they are quite similar to the cupcakes i'm baking for a friend's housewarming party this weekend...margarita cupcakes! oh my it's been ages since i've made cupcakes!

Blimey, you do keep yourself busy with all these blog events and all the visits you've had recently. Don't know how you cope. I've extended the deadline for the Stop the traffik chocolate competition until Monday 8th October (they're a lot of people in the same boat as you). So if you so happen to have a minute or two (ok, I know more like a couple of hours ;-)...